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City Votes to Move Coral Springs Charter School to Tamarac

Official rendering of Coral Springs-Tamarac Charter School slated for opening fall 2019.

Thank you to everyone that enjoyed our 2018 April Fool’s Day joke. A good reminder to readers to always read articles thoroughly and question everything.

By: Sharon Aron Baron

During the commission meeting last Wednesday, the city voted to move forward with relocating the charter school from Coral Springs to the Tamarac Sports Complex.

Over the last few years, the city has pitched several new locations for the school, including two in their own parks, and all ended unsuccessfully. Through an agreement with the City of Tamarac, they reached a consensus to build the school on seven acres of empty land at the Tamarac Sports Complex, giving the school a much-needed athletic field, and room to grow.

Called the “Coral Springs-Tamarac Charter School”, the new two-story building will be able to accommodate 2,500 students versus 1,600 at the current location on Sample Road and University Drive. “We are thrilled with the new agreement with the City of Tamarac,” said Mayor Skip Campbell. “The new location will give the school all the amenities that a real school deserves.”

According to the agreement, the school, operated by Charter Schools USA will lease the land from the City of Tamarac. In exchange for building their 6-12 grade school, 50 percent of all new students admitted will be from the City of Tamarac and the other half from Coral Springs. If there are spots left over, they will be open to students from any city. The school’s charter will still be owned and operated by the City of Coral Springs, and Tamarac residents would be allowed to sit on the charter committee.

Tamarac Mayor Harry Dressler said the partnership between the two cities allowed Tamarac to meet the educational needs of their residents. “We currently have our collegiate academy at Millennium Middle and now we will have the Coral Springs-Tamarac Charter School. This is a win-win for our city.”

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New Coral Spring-Tamarac Charter School location in the Tamarac Sports Complex

Currently, students in Tamarac either attend Millennium Middle, Silver Lakes Middle, Piper High School or Boyd Anderson High School. With the new charter school, Tamarac parents would be able to apply, and have a good chance of getting in to the A-rated school.

Residents attending the meeting were concerned about the long drive for Coral Springs students. The new location at 9901 NW 77th Street, south of Southgate Boulevard, would be seven miles from the current location. “It’s going to take me forever to get my son to this new location,” said Paula Derp. “I don’t know what they were thinking moving this so far – and to another city?”

Commissioner Dan Daley believed the Tamarac Sports Complex was perfect for the school with the lighted baseball and soccer fields and skate park. “By combining forces with Tamarac, we’re solving several issues: we’ve alleviated the traffic issues we had here, adding ball fields, which is something we didn’t have, and we’re helping our neighboring city educate their kids in an A-rated school.”

The sports complex would also be able to accommodate the charter school’s football, cross-country, volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, softball, track and field and tennis teams.

With a new school and name, they would also bring in a new mascot. Currently known as the Panthers, the two mayors said they would eventually figure out who their new mascot would be. “We aren’t certain what the new mascot will be, but since I’m a Florida Gator, I’ll be pushing for the Coral Springs Charter Gators,” said Mayor Campbell. Mayor Dressler thought a more appropriate mascot would be a native species like the Muscovy Duck.

Derp, a 15-year-resident of Coral Springs said, “I guess I have no choice but to send my child. I can’t just pull him out of school when he’ll be in 8th grade.”

According to Charter School USA, anticipated opening date will be April 1, 2019.

Coral Springs Talk has covered News, Views & Reviews for the city since 2011. Remember to always question everything your read. This article is part of an annual April Fool’s Day prank we play on our readers.

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Sharon Aron Baron

Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.